@FirstChurchofJerusalem
Today's Early Church Wisdom
“I shall not hesitate also to put into ordered form for you, along with the interpretations, everything I learned carefully in the past from the elders and noted down carefully, for the truth of which I vouch. For unlike most people, I took no pleasure in those who told many different stories, but only in those who taught the truth. Nor did I take pleasure in those who reported their memory of someone else’s commandments, but only in those who reported their memory of the commandments given by the Lord to the faith and proceeding from the Truth itself. And if by chance anyone who had been in attendance on the elders arrived, I made enquiries about the words of the elders—what Andrew or Peter had said, or Philip or Thomas or James or John or Matthew or any other of the Lord’s disciples, and whatever Aristion and John the Elder, the Lord’s disciples, were saying. For I did not think that information from the books would profit me as much as information from a living and surviving voice.
~ Papias of Hierapolis (c. 60–130 AD) From the Preface to his lost ‘Expositions of the Sayings of the Lord’
This week's Psalm is Psalm 31 'My Rock, My Shield, My Song'

Spiritual Chemistry

Over the next few days, we will be looking at what might be called ‘spiritual chemistry’. People often talk about ‘chemistry’ in relationships. When we listen to people talking about their relationships, we hear expressions like, “There was no chemistry!” or “The chemistry was amazing!” I think that at least part of what many are saying when they talk like this, is that they felt a kind of strong connection, something vibrant, living, pulsing, real, and that this sense of connecting made that experience stand out from all others. What is the ‘chemistry’ like in your relationship with God? If it seems like the chemistry has gone, it’s time to draw close to Him afresh and let His life-giving Spirit wash over our soul!